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Obama Takes On Romney in Virginia, Ohio

By

Carol E. Lee

Updated May 5, 2012 7:47 p.m. ET

RICHMOND, Va.—At the first campaign rallies of his re-election campaign, President Barack Obama pressed his case for a second term on Saturday by attacking presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney while insisting: "It's still about hope. …It's still about change."

The rallies, which came amid fresh anxiety over the economy, marked a new and more aggressive phase in Mr. Obama's increasing transition from president to re-election candidate.